Overview

From the Administrator and Designer of "Friends4ever" Community

�� I started "Friends4ever" community site�just for a fun in November, 2006. I, along with some of my friends thought of a website which would be for our friends only; something�that would let us to be more close to each other, know our friends in a much better way and where we can share our thoughts and feelings. So I started working on it; first job�was to choose a good webhost providing adequate webspace, good features and foremost thing is at least 99% uptime. I shifted the�whole website five times from one webhost to other in the search of this�before the final launch of the site. Then I started�the construction of the site; I mainly used PHP language, little bit of JAVA scripts, MySql database system and of course HTML in writing the whole site. After long two months of working on�it, the site finally launched on 15^th of January 2007. On�this day the site�was released on the web for viewing and opened publicly for registration. I launched the site as a non-profit website, and to prevent spamming on�the site, I limited the registration to closed�network of friends (to know further about this refer to Registration-criteria help). Now the site is up to you all, hope you enjoy this site.

Thanks,
Subhash Bose,
(Friends4ever Administrator and Designer)

What�"Friends4ever" site is all about?

� Friends4ever (F4E) is a Community on the Internet. It was build to know our friends more closely and in a better way. Friends4ever is not a site to make new friends on the web all over the world, but to hold our existing friends, to be more close to them, sharing every little feelings and to spend more time with our valued friends. Our prime intention was to build up a community of trusted friends and to�provide an aid�to hold on those friendships forever. To know more about Friends4ever click here to goto the About section of this site.

Change / Update History / Upcoming News�of Friends4ever

Change / Update History
6th, August 2007	Friends4ever Email started, members can have Email accounts like [email protected].
9th, March 2007	Chat Room for Friends4ever Community started and opened for members.
15th, January 2007	Friends4ever (F4E)�website was launched on the web and open for registration.

Friends4ever Basics

Registration for new Members

��Every new member who wants to join Friends4ever must go through the registration process. This is absolutely free (nothing is charged).�You can register�to F4E�by going to registration links provided in the forum or links provided at the main page. For going to registration page you can also click here. Please read the total registration help followed�to this before going to registration.

What is registration and why needed?

� This is a must for every one who wants to join this F4E community. Registration with Friends4ever is absolutely free, you are not charged in any way and will never be charged in future. This is actually the process of identifying yourself�to the site and other members. You have to provide you Name, contact E-Mail ID (can be kept confidential), Password for logging in and Personal information for you profile, most are optional to enter.
� After registering you will be able to access the various features of the site by using your Username and Password.

How to register?

� For registering you can follow links provided on various places on this site. In the forum on the upper part you can get a register link, also on the main page you can get a link below the login section. You can also click here to go to the registration page.�If you get any trouble�while registering with F4E you can contact the administrator at the contact option provided on the left menu. While contacting at the subject field of the Contact form,�type "Registration Problem" and send it for quick response. After going to the registration page you will need to fill up the fields. Then you will need to enter visual confirmation code properly then click on 'Submit' button to finish registration.

What to fill up in�different fields of the registration form?

� In the registration form there are�many fields to fill up.�It is recommended�to fill all the fields, at least try to fill out as much you can, because more you fill up�better�will be your�profile. The most important fields are your Username, Password, Email Id and Friend (i.e the name of friend by whose�reference you are joining). While filling up the fields try to enter the proper information, do not fill up with garbage values and don't enter any thing abusive or offensive. If some registration entry�is found to violate these terms then membership may be cancelled. You can also edit your profiles later, so, this is not the�single time�fill up.�Most of the fields have the comment Help beside them. Please fill up with care because it's your profile�that will be affected.

Criteria and requirements�for registration

�To join this�site there is no restriction or limit of any type (age, language, location etc. nothing) except one.�Everyone who wants to be registered as member must be a friend of at least any one existing member of this site. While registering you have to fill up a field named 'Friend'. In this field a valid username must be entered, i.e. the user name of an existing member of this site who is your friend and wants you to join this community. Only the Username ( i.e the name used for member login) must be given, you have�to get this username from your referring friend and check the spelling correctly. After registering, the site administrator or any administrator recognized person would verify this Username manually. They will contact that Username holder and ask for you confirmation as his/her friend. If this is found invalid, the Administrator may cancel your membership. This measure is taken to ensure that any spammer or hacker doesn't get into our forum, this will help to maintain the security and keep the forum clean from rubbish postings. If any one is really interested in joining this site but don't have any friend from this forum, then he/she may personally request the Administrator 'Subhash' to include him/her as a friend into the forum. However that request may or may not be accepted as per the administrator's will.
� You need not have to worry if you think your registration process is correct and you didn't violate any rule. From Friends4ever side there will be no mistake or misunderstanding which might lead to deletion of your membership, you can be rest assured about that.

Logging in

� Once you are registered you can login either from the�main page (at the left menu column below the and news there is a login box) or, you can login from the forum (bottom of the forum main page or click on the login button at the forum top). You can also go to login page clicking here. �While logging in, use your username and password which you have used while registering. If you get any trouble�while registering with F4E you can contact the administrator at the Contact option provided on the left menu. While contacting at the subject field of the Contact form,�type "Logging�in Problem" then send it for quick response.

Changing theme of the site

� People accessing F4E site can personalize the looks, appearance and colour of the site by choosing theme of their choice. Visitors can change theme of the main page by selecting themes from the drop-down list located below the top F4E banner.
� Any one who�can design a theme for the site and wants to create a theme for this site are welcome to submit their theme. We will be highly pleased for your co-operation, and you will be given full credit for your theme design. Any one willing to submit a theme can contact the administrator Subhash about your interest.

Forum

What is a Forum?

� In a short description, Forum is something like a message board, but has lots of more interesting features. Friends4ever Forum is a place where we friends can share our thoughts, feelings and almost everything with each other. In our community of friends this forum is a way to convey our messages to others. In the forum, members can post or start or open a topic/message which is viewable to everyone surfing this site; other friends can see you message and post/submit their reply/message�for your message. All replies will be added followed by the last reply, these replies will be queued one after another and can be viewed by others. There is no limit for postings or replies. You can also post reply to other's messages as well. With every posting you make�your post count is incremented, and according to your post count your ranking in the site is determined.
� Every message contains a subject title and message body, one can also post attachments with their posted message. Every board / category contains list of all the�topics submitted under that board, list is ordered according to the�last message submission time, and the subject title�is displayed in the list. Beside this displayed topic title�also the username is�shown who started the topic, number of people who viewed that topic,�number of replies�given to that topic and the time of last reply with the username who replied last.
� There are many categories and�subcategories for the type of message to submit. You can submit anything you like and presentable to others, you may post any message, ask any question, start a poll / voting about any subject, attach some files or documents or post something which you might like to share with others. All other members can view and post replies to your topic. There is also a feature called private messaging (PM), to send private messages to a member, which is not viewable to anyone else.
� These are some of the major features of the forum; however there are a lot of other features�that you may learn while using the forum. Few more are explained below.

Guidelines and rules for posting in the forum

� Once you are registered you can login and post messages and replies in the forum. However there are certain rules, limitations and guidelines you must follow while posting.

Rules and Limitations are:

You can not post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated or any other material that may violate any laws.

If found that any member is trying to have any hacking attempt, his/ her account is liable to be cancelled.

If any�user or visitor found trying to have any type of access over administrator account, are liable for cancellation of their membership, even their IP may be blocked without any notice.

It will also not be allowed if any one found to have any access over other member's account illegally.

Do not attach any copyrighted materials inside the forum. It is not possible for administrator to check every attachments, so, it's your duty to see that.

Guidelines for postings
�These are not any hard-n-fast rules but it is highly appreciated if you follow these rules.

While posting new topics you should post under the specified and correct category or subcategory.

While giving replies to post you should try to be specific to the topic. Don't�move from the topic, rather start a new one.

Do not post any message which is insulting or rude for others, try to be polite to other members.

It is highly preferred to post messages in English instead of using any regional language in form of phonetic english.

Do not post any rubbish message or garbage characters inside messages in the forum.

Do not post one-liners or simply yes or no or something like that as messages in forum to increase your post count. Any such postings will be deleted.

Site administrator and selected moderators will always be there to organize the forum, but, this forum is yours too, you should post messages in proper�manner�to keep the forum organized.

Logging in / Registering

� There in no need of separate registration for the forum, registration is required only once in the whole Friends4ever site. You can log in using the same username�and password used while registering. Registration and Login help are discussed above in 'Friends4ever Basics'. For registration help click here and for login help click here.

Modify profile and other user specific settings

� After login you can go to the user control panel by the link provided at the upper right side of the forum. In the control panel you can modify your profile and other forum specific settings. Please fill up the Location and Birthday field to show your age (these fields are not given while registering).

Posting in the Forum

� In the forum members can submit their messages to the Friends4ever site, these messages can be viewed by any registered member and they can also post reply to those messages.

How to post messages / topics in the forum?

� Forum is divided into different categories for posting new topics, each category contains all messages posted under that category, a category may even contain a subcategory. To post a topic you have to first determine the type of message you want to post, so, accordingly choose the category and click on�it to get into that category. Then�click on the 'New post' icon, a page will open with a form to post message.
� Fill in the subject, this will be displayed in list of topics. Then fill the message body giving details which you want, this will be displayed when the topic is�opened from the topic list. While filling the message you can also use smiles, you may also format your message using BBcodes (this is a special type of code bit similar to html). If you don't know these codes�you need not�to learn any thing more, a toolbar is provided to apply these codes�for formatting message like bold, underline, italics etc. You may even submit attachments with your posted message, those attachments can be downloaded by other members.
��You may also start a poll / voting option with your topic. Add as many poll options you want. There are many more options you can use which are well explained there.
� After filling the message, click on the submit button to submit the message to F4E site. Once the message is submitted a confirmation will be shown, you can also edit your message later if you want to modify it.

How to post reply for a message?

� You can see all the messages posted in the forum, you may also post replies to those messages�and�all replies are queued one after another under that topic. To post a reply to a topic, open the topic and then�click on the 'Post reply' icon then a new page will open. Then fill up the page to submit the message, the process of filling those�fields are similar to method of posting new topic described above.

PM� (Private messaging)

� Private messaging abbreviated as PM, this is similar to sending messages via email. However sending message is only limited within this forum. Every registered member can send messages to�other registered members and they can also receive messages from� other members. Messages are not forwarded to member's email-id, but�they can read and send those messages within the forum. Members may get a notification via email and get a popup notification when they have new PM, these notifications may optionally be�enabled or disabled from user control panel.

How to private message?

� To send a private message to a member you can click on the PM icon beside the posted message by the member or you may go to the profile of the member and click on the PM icon there, you may also go to the PM sending page by going to private message box and click on "compose message". After you are in compose message page�fill in the user name with the Username of the member whom you want to send message. Then type the message you want to send, you may even attach files with the message, use smiles and use text formatting like bold, italics, underline etc. Then click on the send button to send message, a confirmation will be shown after the message was sent.

Member Rankings.

� Special ranks:
These are special ranks which are not�based upon post counts, but�assigned by the administrator.

	Administrator	Administrator is the person who holds the administrative rights of the site and the forum. He can manage all aspects of the forum and site.
	Moderator	Moderators are the members selected by the Administrator and given�some rights to partially manage the forum,�whose job is to look after the forum messages and organize them if needed.
	Spammer	Spammers are members banned from the forum due to spamming or hacking attempt or due to other reasons for which administrator found it necessary to ban the member.

Post based Ranks:
These are ranks which are based upon the number of posts made by the member. These ranks are automatically updated according to the post counts.

	Ranks	� Post count range
	No Post Member	�� 0
	Junior Member	�� 1 - 9
	Little active Member	�� 10 - 59
	Active Member	�� 60 - 119
	Super Active Member	�� 120 - 259
	Top Member	�� 260 and more

Viewing other Member's profile and details.

� For viewing other member's profile, go to the member list, click on the Username from the list whose profile you want to see and the profile page of the member will open. You may also click on the Profile icon beside the posted message by the member and the profile page for that member will open. The profile of a member depends upon,�what he/she has filled up and what he wants to display publicly.

Using Avatars (Showing ur picture beside your name)

� All members can upload their passport sized picture and use them to show beside their posted message along with their Username and also displayed in the member's profile. These images are called Avatars. For using avatars go to user control panel then click on avatar option under profile. From there you can upload and set your avatar. It is preferred to use your real picture, do not post any abusive or objectionable picture. Try to keep your image dimension approximately to passport size, image size (in bytes)�as small as possible (say 6 Kb).

For New Members to personalize settings

� This is for every members to personalize their user setting for the forum. To modify the settings go to user control panel and set the following important options:

Check your time zone. For India time zone is +5.5 hrs

Fill in the field named 'Hidden' in profile. Fill in here with information which you don't want to display publicly but want to keep in the forum. Information in this field will not be displayed to other members.

Upload your picture as avatar. [For more info see the avatar help above]

Set private message notification via email and also by pop up. (Recommended both yes)

Fill in your birthday to show your age in profile page and fill the location field (i.e country) which is also displayed in profile.

Chat Room

What is Friends4ever Chat Room?

� All the registered members of Friends4ever can access the chat room. Friends4ever Chat Room is a means for chatting with all of our friends in Friends4ever. For chatting you does not need any extra Messenger or chat clients, only thing needed is to be member of Friends4ever Community. F4E chat is standalone in it's own, you can chat online on the web-based platform provided here. You can go to chat room by clicking here also.

Logging in / Registering

� You need not have to register separately for Chat Room, registration is required only once in whole Friends4ever site. You can access chat rooms with the Username and Password which you created during registration. Registration�help�is discussed above in 'Friends4ever Basics'. For registration help click here. You can enter the Chat Room from various links provided at different places in this site. While entering the chat room you will be asked for Username and Password; enter the username and password and you will�be logged in�for chatting.

Creating a Room

� You may create your own Chat Room. You will be given Operator access over your chat room after you create it. Your chat room will automatically be deleted after a period of inactivity, unless the Administrator has set chat rooms to never expire, or if you have permission to set a chat room to never expire. To create your own chat room click on the [Create Room] link at the bottom of the room list page.

Setting up the Room

� When you create your room you can set many initial options. Here are explanations of a few:

Room name
Your room name may be anything that is not already in use, however, you may not use the following characters: ,.'*; because these characters are reserved for special chat functions.

Topic
The topic is displayed next to your room name on the online list. You should set it to something relevant to the discussion you will be having so that people who are interested can find your room.

Greeting
The greeting will be automatically sent to users when they first enter a room. You may use the following special tags for dynamic values:
%d - The current date
%t - The current time
%u - The user's username.

Password
If you set a password people will only be able to enter your room by entering the password first.

Max Users
This sets the maximum allowed users who may enter your room. If you set it at a value of less then 3 it will automatically be set to 3. You may NOT set this field to 0. If the user limit is reached the room will not be displayed on the room list and users trying to enter will be denied.

Room Types
You may set your room to either Public or Private. The only difference is that Private rooms are never displayed in the room list and public ones are.

Moderated
If you have permission to, you may set your room to Moderated. This will make it so only people who have a voice will be able to send messages to the room. Operators can give and take voices from people using the Actions Tab.

User CP

� In the User Control Panel you can manage all aspects of your account. You can access the user control panel by clicking the User CP button at the top of a chat window, or by clicking the [User CP] link at the bottom of the room list page.

User CP - Profile

� You can enter information into your profile that you want to make available to other people. You must enter a valid E-Mail address in order to edit your profile. The information you put into your profile will be available for everyone to see, with the exception of your password and your E-Mail address if you check the Hide E-Mail box on the settings page.
The avatar field must be set to a fully qualified URL, meaning it starts with http:// and leads to a valid picture file somewhere on the internet. If the administrator has enabled it, you will be able to upload your own avatar from your harddrive to the chat room. If you choose to upload an avatar then this field will automatically be configured after uploading is complete.

User CP - Settings

� This page allows you to configure certain things about the chat room.

Login Time
This option allows you to specify how long you want to stay logged in on that computer even after you leave the chat room.

Refresh Rate
This option tells chat how often you would like the chat room to connect to the server and download new messages.

Time Offset
The time offset fields allow you to adjust the server time so that it appears as local time. You may adjust the offset in hours and minutes so that the timestamps on messages will appear as local time instead of server time. Enter a number to add to the time, and enter a - sign and then a number to subtract from the time.

Skin
This allows you to choose the way the chat room looks. All of the available skins are listed and you may choose the one you like best. Skins will be loaded only after you login.

Disable Styles/Smilies/Sounds/Timestamps
These options allow you to disable some features of the chat room such as message styles, smilies, sounds and timestamps. If you disable styles all message will appear in the system default style.

Hide E-Mail
Checking this option will hide your E-Mail address from regular users. Administrators and others with proper permissions will still be able to view your E-Mail Address.

Message Logging
Checking this option will log all private messages that you send and receive. Message logging is not available on all servers, and will automatically be stopped if your log size exceeds the limit.

Invisible Mode
If you have permission to become invisible in a room this option will appear in your settings panel. Checking it will make it so that when you enter a room you will automatically be set to invisible and the people in the room will not see you enter.

User CP - Status � The status panel allows you to change your current chat room status. Users will see your status when they click on your name in the Online List. You may choose to use a predefined status message or enter a custom one. There is a length limit on status messages.

User CP - Offline Messages

� The offline message center provides a very simple offline message utility. This allows you to send messages to someone even when they are not logged in.

Room CP

� The Room Control Panel will allow you to manage any room that you are an Operator in. You must have Operator status in order to enter the Room Control Panel. You can enter the panel by typing /roomcp and clicking on the provided link, or by clicking the Room CP button at the top (if it's visible, if not use the other method).

Room CP - Settings

� This allows you to edit the settings that you entered when you created the room. You will be able to edit all of them except the room name, which cannot be changed. In addition to the original options there may be two more now. If you have permission, you may edit the Room Background and Room Logo images. Both of these must be full URLs starting with http:// and leading to an image file. The Background Image file will be applied to the background of the chat message area and the Logo Image will be at the top above the menu buttons.

Room CP - Voice List

� This list is all the people who currently have a voice in your room. If your chat room is set to Moderated, then only people on this list will be able to send messages to it. Once you add a user, they will stay on the list until you remove them. If your chat room is not set to Moderated, then this list will have no effect on your chat room.

Room CP - Mute List

� If your chat room is not set to moderated mode then you can shut people up by adding them to the Mute list. Once on the mute list, they will stay there until you remove them. People who are on the Mute list can watch the chat room, but will not be able to send any messages to it. If your chat room is moderated then this list will have no effect.

Room CP - Other Operator action

� As a Chat Room Operator you will also have many more options on the Action Tab of the online list. In the lower-right hand corner of the chat room (directly below the online list) you will see two tabs. One for Profile and one for Action. Clicking on the Action Tab will bring up some shortcuts for Operator actions such as banning, kicking, viewing IP address, giving/taking Operator status and giving/taking voice or mute. These actions will all be done on the user that is currently displayed under the Profile tab. You can switch which user is being displayed under the profile tab by selecting their name on the Online list.

Sending Messages

� After you are in the Chat Room you can start chatting with your friends. Type your messages in the area provided below the chat box and hit the 'Enter' key or click on the 'Send' button to send your message.

Styles

� If styles are enabled then you may choose the font face, size, style and color of your message. If styles are disabled then the message will be displayed using the system default style.

You may choose how your message looks using the selectors above the message input box. The style of the last message you send will be saved as the default and automatically loaded when you enter chat.

In addition to using the style selectors you may use inline style tags to define style attributed of your message. The following table shows you all available style tags:

Tag	Description	Example
[color=COLOR][/color]	Changes font color. COLOR may be an #RGBHEX value or a named color	[color=red]text[/color]
[i][/i]	Makes text italic	[i]text[/i]
[b][/b]	Makes text bold	[b]text[/b]
[u][/u]	Underlines text	[u]text[/u]
[size=SIZE][/size]	Changes font size, SIZE is the number in pixels	[size=20px]text[/size]
[font=FONT][/font]	Changes font face, FONT may be any font family that the admin has allowed	[font=courier]text[/font]

Smilies

� Smilies are little images used to represent emotion. For example, :) is happy and :( is sad. By clicking the smiley button, which is located above the Send button, you can see a list of all the available smilies. Click on one to add it to your message.

Private Messages

� You can send a private message to anyone, as long as they have not put you on their Block List. To send a private message, select their name on the Online List in a chat room and click the Private Chat button under the Profile tab. This will open a new Private Message window. You should then be able to private chat will them if they are still online.

Offline Messages

� Offline messages will be stored in a user's inbox until they delete it. This means that you can send them an offline message even when they are not logged in. The first way to send someone an online message is to select their name on the Online list and click the Send Mail button. The second way is to access the Message Center section of your User Control Panel.

Online List

� The online list is located to the right of the main chat window. It displays the names of all the people who are currently in chat with you. Below the online list is a section with two tabs, one for Profile and one for Actions. Clicking on a username in the online list will update the Profile and Action Tabs and allow you to use them on that user.

Profile Tab

� The profile tab displays some quick information about the user and gives you several ways to contact them or read more about them. After clicking on a username on the Online list, the profile tab will display the words 'Updating ...' for several seconds while it loads information from the database. Afterwards, the user's username, group and current status will be displayed.
�Below the mini-profile information are three buttons. The first button, Full Profile, will open up a page that contains the user's complete profile with all the information they have chosen to make available. The next button is the Private Chat button which will open a private chat window between you and that user. The third button is the Send Mail button, this button allows you to send the user an offline message.

Action Tab

� The Actions Tab allows you do to certain things to the user who's name is currently displayed in the profile tab. Usually this is also the name that is selected in the online list. The options that appear under this menu will change depending on what permissions you have and what abilities the selected user has. You will always be given the option to Ignore/Unignore a user. In addition, you might be given options to Op/Deop, View Ip, Kick, Give/Take voice, and Mute/Unmute.

IRC Commands

�There are many IRC Style commands available in Chat. They are called IRC Style because they are used in the same was as you would use a command in an IRC chat room. To use an IRC command, you need to type a '/', followed by the command name, and then any arguments (separated by spaces), into the chat box. After that, click Send to run the command. A typical command will look like this:
'/command_name argument_1 argument_2'.

Quick Reference
The commands are displayed along with their arguments, arguments in brackets are option.

/admin username - Gives the user Administrator Access
/admincp - Gives you a link to the Admin Control Panel
/away - Sets your status to 'away'
/back - Sets your status to 'Available'
/ban username reason - Removes a user from the chat rooms and prevents them from returning
/deadmin username - Takes away a user's Administrator Access
/deop username - Removes users Operator power
/devoice username - Prevents user from sending messages to a moderated chat room
/help - Gives you a link to this documentation
/ignore username - Blocks all messages from this user
/invisible - Makes you visible/invisible (switches your current status)
/invite username - Invites a user to the chat room you are in
/join room - Gives you a link to join a different room
/kick username reason - Removes a user from the chat room
/list - Displays a list of chat rooms
/log action - Allows you to stop, start, clear and view size info on the log
/mdeop - Takes Operator status from all Operators in the room
/me action - Makes you 'do' the action
/mkick reason - Kicks everyone out of the chat room
/mode mode username - Changes the 'mode' of a user
/motd - Displays the news or message of the day
/msg username - Opens a private message window with the user
/mute username - Prevents the user from sending messages to the chat room
/names - Lists names of people in the chat room with you
/op username - Makes a user an Operator in the current chat room
/roll [number of dice] [sides on each dice] [modifier] - Rolls dice and prints results to chat room
/roomcp - Gives you a link to the Room Control Panel
/unignore username - Allows you to receive messages from this user again
/unban username - This will allow a banned user to enter the chat room again
/unmute username - Allows the user to send messages to a chat room again
/userip username - Displays the IP address of the user
/version - Displays the current version
/voice username - Allows a user to send messages to a moderated chat room
/wallchan message - Sends a message to all chat rooms
/wallchop message - Sends your message to all room Operators

About Operators

� An Operator is the person who controls a chat room. They have the ability to ban, kick, mute, change settings and do other tasks related to running the chat room.
� The creator of a room is automatically given Operator access, or someone who is already an Operator in a room can give you Operator access to that room. You will be an Operator only in the room where you are given Operator access.

Invisibility

� Users with proper permissions may choose to go invisible. While invisible you will not show up in the room's online list. If you have permission to go invisible you will be able to select an option in the Settings section of your User CP that will make you automatically invisible in all chat rooms. If this option is not selected, then you will not appear invisible when you enter a chat room until you click the Invisible button above the online list. You can click the same button a second time to become visible. You may send messages while you are invisible.

Inviting

� You may invite another user to the chat room using the invite command.
Syntax
/invite username
username - Username of the person you want to invite.